Impact load reduction structure

ABSTRACT

An impact load reduction structure includes a battery frame, a load reduction frame, and a load absorber. The battery frame is fixed to a vehicle body frame of an electrically-powered vehicle and supports a battery. The load reduction frame extends in a front-rear direction on a front side of the battery frame and is disposed in a substantially same plane as the battery frame. The load absorber is disposed between the load reduction frame and the battery frame and absorbs an impact load to be transmitted from the load reduction frame to the battery frame.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority from Japanese Patent ApplicationNo. 2015-193462 filed on Sep. 30, 2015, the entire contents of which arehereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to impact load reduction structures, andparticularly, to an impact load reduction structure that reduces animpact load transmitted to a battery for driving an electrically-poweredvehicle.

2. Related Art

Batteries installed in electrically-powered vehicles, such as electricvehicles and hybrid vehicles, require large capacity and have largeweight. Therefore, an electrically-powered vehicle is normally providedwith a battery frame for supporting a battery. For instance, the batteryframe is provided in a large space under the floor of the vehicle cabin,and a plurality of batteries are collectively disposed within thebattery frame. There is a demand for a technology for suppressing aninput of a large external impact load when an electrically-poweredvehicle is involved in a collision.

As an impact load reduction structure that reduces transmission of animpact load to a battery, for instance, Japanese Unexamined PatentApplication Publication (JP-A) No. 2013-14276 proposes anelectric-vehicle battery support structure that can reliably distributea load input from the front section of the vehicle. Thiselectric-vehicle battery support structure is provided with a protrusionthat protrudes downward from the floor surface, extends in thefront-rear direction of the vehicle, and supports batteries. The frontend of this protrusion is coupled to the rear end of a front side frame.Accordingly, a load input to the front side frame from the front sectionof the vehicle can be transmitted and distributed to the rear of thevehicle via the protrusion.

However, in the electric-vehicle battery support structure in JP-A No.2013-14276, a vehicle body frame, such as the front side frame, issecurely fixed to the protrusion, which supports the batteries, from thefront side. Thus, when the front section of the electric vehicle makes acollision, an impact load transmitted through the vehicle body frame isinput to the protrusion at once, possibly causing a large impact load tobe input to the batteries.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is desirable to provide an impact load reduction structure thatreliably reduces an impact load transmitted to a battery.

An aspect of the present invention provides an impact load reductionstructure that reduces an impact load transmitted to a battery fordriving an electrically-powered vehicle. The impact load reductionstructure includes a battery frame, a load reduction frame, and a loadabsorber. The battery frame is fixed to a vehicle body frame of theelectrically-powered vehicle and supports the battery. The loadreduction frame extends in a front-rear direction on a front side of thebattery frame and is disposed in a substantially same plane as thebattery frame. The load absorber is disposed between the load reductionframe and the battery frame and absorbs the impact load to betransmitted from the load reduction frame to the battery frame.

The battery frame may be disposed under a floor of a vehicle cabin, andthe load reduction frame may be disposed so as to extend rearward fromnear a front section of the electrically-powered vehicle.

Furthermore, the load absorber may have lower rigidity than the batteryframe and higher rigidity than the load reduction frame.

Furthermore, the load reduction frame may have lower rigidity than thebattery frame, and the load absorber may have lower rigidity than theload reduction frame.

Furthermore, the vehicle body frame may have front side frames in pairsspaced apart from each other in a vehicle width direction and extendingrearward from near a front section of the electrically-powered vehicle,floor side frames in pairs that are coupled to rear ends of the frontside frames and that extend rearward under a floor of a vehicle cabin,and side sills in pairs disposed so as to extend in the front-reardirection alongside the floor side frames. The load absorber may bedisposed so as to extend in the vehicle width direction, and oppositeends of the load absorber may be fixed to either one of the pair offront side frames, the pair of side sills, and the pair of floor sideframes.

Furthermore, the vehicle body frame may have front side frames in pairsspaced apart from each other in a vehicle width direction and extendingrearward from near a front section of the electrically-powered vehicleand may also have floor side frames in pairs coupled to rear ends of thefront side frames and extending rearward under a floor of a vehiclecabin. The load reduction frame may be fixed to the front side frames.The battery frame may be disposed within the floor side frames and maybe fixed to the floor side frames.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates the configuration of a vehicle equipped with animpact load reduction structure according to a first example of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view illustrating a relevant part of the impact loadreduction structure;

FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating a relevant part of the impact loadreduction structure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a state where a bumper is deformed in an early stageof a collision in the first example; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a state where a load absorber is deformed in an earlystage of a collision in a second example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Examples of the present invention will be described below with referenceto the appended drawings.

First Example

FIG. 1 illustrates the configuration of an electric vehicle equippedwith an impact load reduction structure according to a first example ofthe present invention. This electric vehicle has a vehicle body frame 1that supports a vehicle body, a battery housing 2 fixed to the vehiclebody frame 1, a plurality of batteries 3 disposed within the batteryhousing 2, a sub frame 4 disposed on the front side of the batteryhousing 2, and a driving unit 5 electrically coupled to the plurality ofbatteries 3 via wires (not illustrated).

The vehicle body frame 1 has a bumper frame 6, a pair of front upperframes 7, a pair of front side frames 8, a pair of front pillars 9, apair of side sills 10, and a pair of floor side frames 11.

The bumper frame 6 is disposed at the front section of the electricvehicle and supports a bumper B. The bumper frame 6 extends in a curvedmanner in the vehicle width direction. The bumper frame 6 and the bumperB have a crash area S that deforms first and absorbs an impact load whenthe front section of the electric vehicle makes a collision.

The front upper frames 7 extend rearward from near the front section ofthe electric vehicle along the opposite sides thereof, and the rear endsof the front upper frames 7 are coupled to the front pillars 9.

The front side frames 8 extend in the front-rear direction within thefront upper frames 7. The front ends of the front side frames 8 arecoupled to the bumper frame 6, and the rear ends of the front sideframes 8 are coupled to the floor side frames 11. Moreover, the rearends of the front side frames 8 are coupled to the side sills 10 via arigid member R, such as a torque box.

The front pillars 9 extend in the up-down direction at the oppositesides of the electric vehicle, and a toe board T is disposed so as tocouple the front pillars 9 to each other. A front chamber R1 is formedon the front side of the toe board T, and a vehicle cabin R2 is formedon the rear side of the toe board T.

The front ends of the side sills 10 are coupled to the lower ends of thefront pillars 9. The side sills 10 are formed under the floor of thevehicle cabin R2 so as to extend rearward along the opposite sides ofthe electric vehicle.

The floor side frames 11 extend in the front-rear direction within theside sills 10. The front ends of the floor side frames 11 are coupled tothe front side frames 8, and the rear ends of the floor side frames 11are coupled to the side sills 10. Therefore, the floor side frames 11are disposed so as to expand sideways gradually from the front endstoward the rear ends. Specifically, the floor side frames 11 extendrearward while the distance between one floor side frame 11 and theother floor side frame 11 gradually increases.

The battery housing 2 is for securely fixing the positions of theplurality of batteries 3 accommodated therein. The battery housing 2collectively covers the plurality of batteries 3 and has high rigidity.The battery housing 2 is disposed so as to extend between the floor sideframes 11 under the floor of the vehicle cabin R2. Below the batteryhousing 2, a box-shaped battery frame 12 is provided along the outeredges of the battery housing 2. The batteries 3 are supported from belowby this battery frame 12.

The batteries 3 are charged by electric power supplied from an externalpower source and are accommodated within the battery housing 2. Thebatteries 3 have large capacity for driving the driving unit 5 and alsohave large weight. Therefore, the weight of the battery housing 2accommodating the batteries 3 is extremely large at, for instance, about300 kg.

The sub frame 4 is disposed so as to extend rearward within the frontchamber R1 from near the bumper B toward the front section of thebattery frame 12. In one example of the present invention, the sub frame4 functions as a load reduction frame.

The driving unit 5 includes, for instance, a motor that is driven byelectric power supplied from the batteries 3 and is coupled to, forinstance, tires within the front chamber R1.

Furthermore, a load absorber 17 is disposed between the sub frame 4 andthe battery frame 12.

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate the configuration of the sub frame 4 and theload absorber 17 in detail.

The sub frame 4 and the load absorber 17 are disposed so as to bepositioned in the same plane as the battery frame 12. The battery frame12 has a pair of side frames 14 a extending in the front-rear directionat the opposite sides of the electric vehicle, a front frame 14 bextending in the vehicle width direction and coupling the front ends ofthe side frames 14 a to each other, and a rear frame 14 c extending inthe vehicle width direction and coupling the rear ends of the sideframes 14 a to each other. The side frames 14 a, the front frame 14 b,and the rear frame 14 c are disposed so as to be positioned insubstantially the same plane within the floor side frames 11.

The front sections of the side frames 14 a have abutment sections 16extending along the floor side frames 11. The abutment sections 16 areformed such that the side frames 14 a are inwardly inclined toward thefront. Specifically, the abutment sections 16 are formed such that thedistance therebetween gradually decreases toward the front. The rearsections of the side frames 14 a extend straight toward the rear. Thefront frame 14 b extends in the vehicle width direction along the toeboard T, and the rear frame 14 c extends in the vehicle width direction.A plurality of fixation sections 15 are disposed below the battery frame12. These plurality of fixation sections 15 couple and fix the batteryframe 12 to the floor side frames 11.

When a forward inertia force occurs in the battery frame 12 due to acollision of the electric vehicle, the sub frame 4 supports the batteryframe 12 from the front side. The sub frame 4 has f side frames 13 a inpairs extending in the front-rear direction at the opposite sides of theelectric vehicle, a front frame 13 b that extends in the vehicle widthdirection and couples the front ends of the side frames 13 a to eachother, and a rear frame 13 c that extends in the vehicle width directionand couples the rear ends of the side frames 13 a to each other.

The side frames 13 a are formed parallel to each other and extendrearward and straight from the front ends toward the rear ends.Furthermore, the side frames 13 a are disposed such that the front endsof the side frames 14 a of the battery frame 12 are positioned on theextensions of the side frames 13 a. The front frame 13 b and the rearframe 13 c are disposed so as to extend parallel to the front frame 14 bof the battery frame 12 in the vehicle width direction. The sub frame 4is coupled and fixed to the front side frames 8 via fixation sections(not illustrated).

The load absorber 17 absorbs an impact load input to the battery frame12 by deforming and is disposed so as to extend in the vehicle widthdirection between the battery frame 12 and the sub frame 4. The oppositeends of the load absorber 17 are fixed to the floor side frames 11. Theload absorber 17 has lower rigidity than the battery frame 12 and higherrigidity than the sub frame 4. In detail, the rigidity of the loadabsorber 17 is set such that the load absorber 17 deforms immediatelybefore receiving an impact load that may lead to damages to thebatteries 3. The load absorber 17 may be composed of, for instance, aresin material and aluminum alloy.

Next, the operation according to this example will be described.

First, when the front section of the electric vehicle illustrated inFIG. 1 makes a collision, such as a full-wrap frontal collision, with animpactor D, the front section of the electric vehicle receives an impactload. As illustrated in FIG. 4, in the early stage of the collision, thecrash area S of the bumper B deforms in a crushed manner, whereas otherareas of the vehicle body frame 1 hardly deform. The impact load inputfrom the bumper B is transmitted rearward via the front upper frames 7,the front side frames 8, and the sub frame 4.

In detail, the impact load input to the front upper frames 7 istransmitted to the side sills 10 via the front pillars 9. Furthermore,the impact load input to the front side frames 8 is transmitted to thefloor side frames 11 and also to the side sills 10 via the rigid memberR. Moreover, the impact load input to the sub frame 4 is transmitted tothe front side frames 8 via fixation sections (not illustrated) and istransmitted from the front side frames 8 to the floor side frames 11 andthe side sills 10.

In this case, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the sub frame 4 iscoupled to the battery frame 12 via the load absorber 17 so that aportion of the impact load transmitted to the sub frame 4 is alsotransmitted to the battery frame 12. However, the impact loadtransmitted to the battery frame 12 does not lead to damages to thebatteries 3 and does not cause the load absorber 17 to deform so thatthe shape thereof is maintained.

In the battery frame 12, a forward inertia force is generated due to thecollision so that the abutment sections 16 are brought into abutmentwith the floor side frames 11 and the front frame 14 b is brought intoabutment with the load absorber 17. Therefore, in the early stage of thecollision, the abutment sections 16 are supported by the floor sideframes 11, and the sub frame 4 supports the battery frame 12 from thefront side via the load absorber 17, so that forward movement of thebattery frame 12 can be suppressed.

In this case, the sub frame 4 is pushed rearward by the pressure fromthe impactor D so that the battery frame 12 can be securely supported.Moreover, since the front ends of the side frames 14 a of the batteryframe 12 are positioned on the extensions of the side frames 13 a of thesub frame 4, the battery frame 12 can be securely supported from thefront side.

Furthermore, since the load absorber 17 is disposed parallel to thefront frame 14 b of the battery frame 12, the load absorber 17 can comeinto contact with the battery frame 12 with a wide area, whereby thebattery frame 12 can be securely supported from the front side.Moreover, since the opposite ends of the load absorber 17 are fixed tothe floor side frames 11, the battery frame 12 can be securelysupported. By using the fixation sections 15 to fix the front frame 14 bof the battery frame 12 to the load absorber 17, the load absorber 17can also be used as a support frame that supports the battery frame 12from below.

Furthermore, since forward movement of the battery frame 12 issuppressed by simply disposing the sub frame 4 and the load absorber 17on the front side of the battery frame 12, it is not necessary tosecurely fix, for instance, the front frame 14 b of the battery frame 12to the vehicle body frame 1, thereby reducing the weight of the electricvehicle as well as simplifying the assembly process thereof.

Accordingly, when the crash area S of the bumper B completely deforms sothat the early stage of the collision ends, areas of the vehicle bodyframe 1 other than the crash area S subsequently deform. Then, in thelater stage of the collision in which there are few deformed sections inthe vehicle body frame 1 due to complete deformation of the frontchamber R1 of the vehicle, the impact load input to the battery frame 12greatly increases.

In this later stage of the collision, when the impact load to be inputto the battery frame 12 increases to a predetermined threshold value,that is, a value slightly lower than a value that may lead to damages tothe batteries, 3, the load absorber 17 deforms in a crushed manner so asto absorb the impact load, thereby reducing the impact load input to thebattery frame 12. Therefore, the battery frame 12 is prevented fromreceiving an impact load that greatly exceeds the predeterminedthreshold value, thereby preventing damages to the batteries 3.

Because the sub frame 4 moves rearward as the load absorber 17 deforms,the battery frame 12 is supported from the front side by the sub frame 4even after the deformation of the load absorber 17, so that forwardmovement of the battery frame 12 can still be suppressed.

According to this example, since the load absorber 17, which has lowerrigidity than the battery frame 12 and higher rigidity than the subframe 4, is disposed between the sub frame 4 and the battery frame 12,the impact load input to the battery frame 12 in the later stage of thecollision can be reduced, so that the impact load transmitted to thebatteries 3 can be reliably reduced.

Second Example

In the first example, the load absorber 17 has lower rigidity than thebattery frame 12 and higher rigidity than the sub frame 4.Alternatively, the sub frame 4 may have lower rigidity than the batteryframe 12, and the load absorber 17 may have lower rigidity than the subframe 4.

Similar to the first example, when the front section of the electricvehicle illustrated in FIG. 1 collides with the impactor D, the crasharea S of the bumper B deforms in a crushed manner. Moreover, the impactload input from the bumper B is transmitted rearward via the front upperframes 7, the front side frames 8, and the sub frame 4.

In this case, since the load absorber 17 has lower rigidity than the subframe 4, transmission of the impact load from the sub frame 4 to thebattery frame 12 is reduced, so that the battery frame 12 receives onlya portion of the impact load transmitted through the floor side frames11. Therefore, in the early stage of the collision, the battery frame 12is prevented from receiving the impact load at once, thereby reducing anincrease in the impact load.

Subsequently, when the crash area S of the bumper B completely deformsso that the early stage of the collision ends, the sub frame 4 is pushedrearward by the pressure from the impactor D, as illustrated in FIG. 5.In this case, since the sub frame 4 moves rearward while deforming theload absorber 17, the impact load is absorbed by the load absorber 17 sothat the impact load transmitted to the battery frame 12 can be reduced.

Accordingly, the sub frame 4 moves rearward so that the load absorber 17deforms in a completely crushed manner. It is preferable that the loadabsorber 17 completely deforms substantially simultaneously with the endof the early stage of the collision, that is, complete deformation ofthe crash area S. When the early stage of the collision ends, areas ofthe vehicle body frame 1 other than the crash area S deform so that thedeformation load becomes larger than the deformation load of the crasharea S. Therefore, although the forward inertia force occurring in thebattery frame 12 increases, the sub frame 4 can securely support thebattery frame 12 from the front side by causing the load absorber 17 tocompletely deform when the early stage of the collision ends, wherebyforward movement of the battery frame 12 can be reliably suppressed.

In the related art, in order to prevent the battery frame 12 from movingforward due to a collision, for instance, the front frame 14 b issecurely fixed to the vehicle body frame 1. Therefore, there is apossibility that a large impact load is transmitted to the battery frame12 at once via the vehicle body frame 1 from the early stage of thecollision. In each example of the present invention, the load absorber17 is disposed between the sub frame 4 and the battery frame 12 so thatforward movement of the battery frame 12 is suppressed while the impactload transmitted to the battery frame 12 in the early stage of thecollision can be reduced.

According to this example, since the sub frame 4 has lower rigidity thanthe battery frame 12, and the load absorber 17 has lower rigidity thanthe sub frame 4, the impact load input to the battery frame 12 in theearly stage of the collision can be reduced, so that the impact loadtransmitted to the batteries 3 can be reliably reduced.

Although the opposite ends of the load absorber 17 are fixed to thefloor side frames 11 in the first and second examples described above,the opposite ends may alternatively be fixed to, for instance, the frontside frames 8 and the side sills 10 so long as the load absorber 17 canbe fixed to the vehicle body of the electric vehicle.

Furthermore, in the first and second examples described above, a part ofthe vehicle body frame 1 may be used as the load absorber 17. Forinstance, a cross member disposed between the sub frame 4 and thebattery frame 12 may be used as the load absorber 17.

Furthermore, although the impact load reduction structure according toeach example of the present invention is applied to an electric vehiclein the above-described example, a vehicle to which the impact loadreduction structure according to each example of the present inventionis applied is not limited to an electric vehicle so long as the impactload reduction structure according to each example of the presentinvention is applied to an electrically-powered vehicle equipped with alarge-capacity battery for, for instance, electrically driving a drivingunit. For instance, the impact load reduction structure according toeach example of the present invention may be applied to a hybridvehicle.

1. An impact load reduction structure that reduces an impact loadtransmitted to a battery for driving an electrically-powered vehicle,the impact load reduction structure comprising: a battery frame that isfixed to a vehicle body frame of the electrically-powered vehicle andthat supports the battery; a load reduction frame that extends in afront-rear direction on a front side of the battery frame and that isdisposed in a substantially same plane as the battery frame; and a loadabsorber that is disposed between the load reduction frame and thebattery frame and that absorbs the impact load to be transmitted fromthe load reduction frame to the battery frame.
 2. The impact loadreduction structure according to claim 1, wherein the battery frame isdisposed under a floor of a vehicle cabin, and the load reduction frameis disposed so as to extend rearward from near a front section of theelectrically-powered vehicle.
 3. The impact load reduction structureaccording to claim 1, wherein the load absorber has lower rigidity thanthe battery frame and higher rigidity than the load reduction frame. 4.The impact load reduction structure according to claim 2, wherein theload absorber has lower rigidity than the battery frame and higherrigidity than the load reduction frame.
 5. The impact load reductionstructure according to claim 1, wherein the load reduction frame haslower rigidity than the battery frame, and the load absorber has lowerrigidity than the load reduction frame.
 6. The impact load reductionstructure according to claim 2, wherein the load reduction frame haslower rigidity than the battery frame, and the load absorber has lowerrigidity than the load reduction frame.
 7. The impact load reductionstructure according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle body frame has frontside frames in pairs spaced apart from each other in a vehicle widthdirection and extending rearward from near a front section of theelectrically-powered vehicle, floor side frames in pairs that arecoupled to rear ends of the front side frames and that extend rearwardunder a floor of a vehicle cabin, and side sills in pairs disposed so asto extend in the front-rear direction alongside the floor side frames,and wherein the load absorber is disposed so as to extend in the vehiclewidth direction, and opposite ends of the load absorber are fixed toeither one of the pair of front side frames, the pair of side sills, andthe pair of floor side frames.
 8. The impact load reduction structureaccording to claim 2, wherein the vehicle body frame has front sideframes in pairs spaced apart from each other in a vehicle widthdirection and extending rearward from near the front section of theelectrically-powered vehicle, floor side frames in pairs that arecoupled to rear ends of the front side frames and that extend rearwardunder the floor of the vehicle cabin, and side sills in pairs disposedso as to extend in the front-rear direction alongside the floor sideframes, and wherein the load absorber is disposed so as to extend in thevehicle width direction, and opposite ends of the load absorber arefixed to either one of the pair of front side frames, the pair of sidesills, and the pair of floor side frames.
 9. The impact load reductionstructure according to claim 3, wherein the vehicle body frame has frontside frames in pairs spaced apart from each other in a vehicle widthdirection and extending rearward from near the front section of theelectrically-powered vehicle, floor side frames in pairs that arecoupled to rear ends of the front side frames and that extend rearwardunder the floor of the vehicle cabin, and side sills in pairs disposedso as to extend in the front-rear direction alongside the floor sideframes, and wherein the load absorber is disposed so as to extend in thevehicle width direction, and opposite ends of the load absorber arefixed to either one of the pair of front side frames, the pair of sidesills, and the pair of floor side frames.
 10. The impact load reductionstructure according to claim 4, wherein the vehicle body frame has frontside frames in pairs spaced apart from each other in a vehicle widthdirection and extending rearward from near the front section of theelectrically-powered vehicle, floor side frames in pairs that arecoupled to rear ends of the front side frames and that extend rearwardunder the floor of the vehicle cabin, and side sills in pairs disposedso as to extend in the front-rear direction alongside the floor sideframes, and wherein the load absorber is disposed so as to extend in thevehicle width direction, and opposite ends of the load absorber arefixed to either one of the pair of front side frames, the pair of sidesills, and the pair of floor side frames.
 11. The impact load reductionstructure according to claim 5, wherein the vehicle body frame has frontside frames in pairs spaced apart from each other in a vehicle widthdirection and extending rearward from near the front section of theelectrically-powered vehicle, floor side frames in pairs that arecoupled to rear ends of the front side frames and that extend rearwardunder the floor of the vehicle cabin, and side sills in pairs disposedso as to extend in the front-rear direction alongside the floor sideframes, and wherein the load absorber is disposed so as to extend in thevehicle width direction, and opposite ends of the load absorber arefixed to either one of the pair of front side frames, the pair of sidesills, and the pair of floor side frames.
 12. The impact load reductionstructure according to claim 6, wherein the vehicle body frame has frontside frames in pairs spaced apart from each other in a vehicle widthdirection and extending rearward from near the front section of theelectrically-powered vehicle, floor side frames in pairs that arecoupled to rear ends of the front side frames and that extend rearwardunder the floor of the vehicle cabin, and side sills in pairs disposedso as to extend in the front-rear direction alongside the floor sideframes, and wherein the load absorber is disposed so as to extend in thevehicle width direction, and opposite ends of the load absorber arefixed to either one of the pair of front side frames, the pair of sidesills, and the pair of floor side frames.
 13. The impact load reductionstructure according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle body frame has frontside frames in pairs spaced apart from each other in a vehicle widthdirection and extending rearward from near a front section of theelectrically-powered vehicle and also has floor side frames in pairscoupled to rear ends of the front side frames and extending rearwardunder a floor of a vehicle cabin, wherein the load reduction frame isfixed to the front side frames, and wherein the battery frame isdisposed within the floor side frames and is fixed to the floor sideframes.
 14. The impact load reduction structure according to claim 2,wherein the vehicle body frame has front side frames in pairs spacedapart from each other in a vehicle width direction and extendingrearward from near the front section of the electrically-powered vehicleand also has floor side frames in pairs coupled to rear ends of thefront side frames and extending rearward under the floor of the vehiclecabin, wherein the load reduction frame is fixed to the front sideframes, and wherein the battery frame is disposed within the floor sideframes and is fixed to the floor side frames.
 15. The impact loadreduction structure according to claim 3, wherein the vehicle body framehas front side frames in pairs spaced apart from each other in a vehiclewidth direction and extending rearward from near the front section ofthe electrically-powered vehicle and also has floor side frames in pairscoupled to rear ends of the front side frames and extending rearwardunder the floor of the vehicle cabin, wherein the load reduction frameis fixed to the front side frames, and wherein the battery frame isdisposed within the floor side frames and is fixed to the floor sideframes.
 16. The impact load reduction structure according to claim 4,wherein the vehicle body frame has front side frames in pairs spacedapart from each other in a vehicle width direction and extendingrearward from near the front section of the electrically-powered vehicleand also has floor side frames in pairs coupled to rear ends of thefront side frames and extending rearward under the floor of the vehiclecabin, wherein the load reduction frame is fixed to the front sideframes, and wherein the battery frame is disposed within the floor sideframes and is fixed to the floor side frames.
 17. The impact loadreduction structure according to claim 5, wherein the vehicle body framehas front side frames in pairs spaced apart from each other in thevehicle width direction and extending rearward from near the frontsection of the electrically-powered vehicle and also has floor sideframes in pairs coupled to rear ends of the front side frames andextending rearward under the floor of the vehicle cabin, wherein theload reduction frame is fixed to the front side frames, and wherein thebattery frame is disposed within the floor side frames and is fixed tothe floor side frames.
 18. The impact load reduction structure accordingto claim 6, wherein the vehicle body frame has front side frames inpairs spaced apart from each other in the vehicle width direction andextending rearward from near the front section of theelectrically-powered vehicle and also has floor side frames in pairscoupled to rear ends of the front side frames and extending rearwardunder the floor of the vehicle cabin, wherein the load reduction frameis fixed to the front side frames, and wherein the battery frame isdisposed within the floor side frames and is fixed to the floor sideframes.